PA Environment Digest Blog: Curtis Institute Of Music In Philadelphia Kicks Off 3-Year Energy Efficiency Project

On December 16, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia announced it is kicking off a three-year project to make energy efficiency investments in its Philadelphia facilities through an agreement with The Efficiency Network (TEN).

"Improving our facilities across the Curtis campus is a key objective in our strategic plan," stated Larry Bomback, Senior Vice President of Administration at Curtis. "This project will dramatically improve energy performance in our Locust Street buildings and demonstrate our commitment to the greater Philadelphia community. We're proud to be able to reduce both our operating costs and our carbon footprint."

The project was supported by the Philadelphia Energy Authority and the Pennsylvania Sustainable Energy Finance (PennSEF) Program, a partnership between Pennsylvania State Treasury and the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment.

PEA helps build a robust, equitable clean energy economy in Philadelphia through energy project and program development for City buildings, schools, housing and commercial buildings.

"We want to encourage non-profits to embrace the City's vision for reducing our carbon footprint and we are thrilled that Curtis has stepped forward to be one of the first local institutions to pursue this program," said Alon Abramson, PEA Program Manager.

The agreement between Curtis and TEN was developed with support from PennSEF, which uses a guaranteed savings model to ensure cost savings from lower energy bills more than cover the up-front investment.

"The PennSEF program offers technical, project development and financing assistance to make it much easier for organizations to pursue energy projects. We hope this model will be the motivation for projects that may otherwise appear too challenging for non-profit organizations to pursue," said Keith Welks, Deputy State Treasurer for Fiscal Operations and Policy at the Pennsylvania Treasury.

This project will invest a total of $650,000 in new lighting and building system controls in all Curtis buildings, will result in an annual savings of just over $35,000 - reducing spending by 13 percent - and will cut Curtis's carbon footprint by approximately 166 MTe per year.

The project is being designed and constructed by TEN, which was selected through a competitive process run jointly by Curtis, PEA, and PennSEF. TEN will be utilizing local contractors to replace the lighting and to improve the building control systems.

For more information on this program, visit the Pennsylvania Sustainable Energy Finance (PennSEF) Program webpage.

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